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How to travel by train from Amsterdam to Vienna
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Amsterdam to Wien / Vienna by train
The only direct train from Amsterdam to Vienna / Wien is the newly re-introduced overnight train, but if you want to travel by day it's actually a very straightforward journey, with only one connection required between two swish ICE trains.
Routes you can take to go from Amsterdam to Wien / Vienna
When travelling between most cities by train there is only one logical option, though on other journeys there is a choice between different trains or alternative routes. If different options are available you can use the info to decide which is best for you.
Choose one of the following options:
Looking for connections?
Route Information
Option 1: travelling direct through the night
Station Guides
Travel Time (approx)
13hr 41min
Frequency
Nightly
Travel Info
1 a train per night
Purchase Tickets
OBB operates the Nightjet trains and it's bespoke booking path for these trains is particularly easy to follow, with detailed explanations of the accommodation options.
Nightjet Guide
Booking places in the sleeping cabins
When entering 2 travellers as 1 male and 1 female, you will automatically be given the option to book a 3-bed cabin for the sole use of the two of you - the 'double' cabin option.
So you will be in the cabin together with no other travellers.
3 men + 2 women or 3 women + 2 men = three beds in a triple cabin + two beds in a double cabin is what you will be offered, though the cabins will then be male and female only.
So if the combination of travellers is 1 male/female couple + 1 male/female couple and a child, you will need to make two separate bookings so that the two couples can each share a cabin.
When 4 Adults are travelling together you will be given the option of booking double or triple cabins.
If you select 'Double' you will automatically be assigned 4 beds in two double cabins.
Because the Triple cabins are segregated into male and female, when two women + two men are in the travel party, the two men will be sharing a triple compartment with another traveller, as will the two women
When 3 men + 1 woman or 3 women + 1 man are the travel party, the fourth person will then be sharing a three bed cabin with two other people.
OBB Guide
OBB is the national rail operator and its booking service offers journeys by express trains within Austria, as well as international journeys which don't involve making a connection outside of Austria.
It pays off to book online, as the discounted 'Sparscheine' tickets are only ever made available on the website, and when making international journeys to and from Austria, these Sparscheine tickets tend to be cheaper.
OBB can offer particularly good value for money when travelling with children on international rail journeys, but something to watch out for when travelling between Austria and Germany on daytime trains, is that reservations are an optional extra; but if you book 1st class tickets with the Germany railways website DB, the reservations are complimentary.
OBB often takes a unique approach to its booking path, but a key thing to keep in mind is that the first price you will see for any journey is that of a Second Class seat.
The costs of upgrading to first class, a reservation, or a sleeping cabin etc, is then added to this price.
NS Intl Guide
NS is the Dutch national rail operator and it operates a bespoke website for the booking of international rail journeys from and to The Netherlands.
Therefore it offers tickets for journeys by:
- Thalys trains to Bruxelles and Paris
- IC trains to Berlin via Hannover and Bruxelles via Antwerpen
- Eurostar to London
- ICE trains to Basel and Frankfurt (Main) via Koln
- the Nightjet trains to Austria and Germany
NS International also sells tickets to a range of destinations in Austria, Czechia, Denmark, Italy and Switzerland, which involve a change of train in Germany, along with the destinations in France, which can be accessed by making a connection in Bruxelles.
Travel Information
Final Destination: Wien
This train also calls at: Wels (typically arrives 07:14); Linz (typically arrives 07:46) and St Polten (08:42_
This train is typically scheduled to depart from Amsterdam-Centraal at 19:30; it also typically departs from Utrecht at 20:03 (connect from Den Haag and Rotterdam) and from Arnhem at 20:37 (connect from Nijmegen).
It is usually scheduled to arrive in Wien/Vienna at 09:19; though due to the length of this journey it can be prone to having the timings altered due to works on the railway line.
If the train arrives on time, the following connections will be typically available at Wien hbf:
- 09:42 to Budapest
- 09:58 to Graz
- 10:42 to Cluj Napoca
This is a direct journey
You will be travelling on one of these trains...
Journey Features
Good to Know
On departure from Amsterdam this train heading to Wien will be attached to another train heading to Innsbruck, the two trains will be separated on arrival at Nurnberg.
Your reservations will be in the part of the train heading to Wien the train conductor will greet all passengers who will be travelling in the sleeping cabins and couchettes.
Though if you can only see info for a train heading to Innsbruck on the departure screens at Centraal station, the info will be what you need to follow.
As the train will be continuing to Innsbruck, you will not be able to remain in the sleeping cabins on arrival at Munchen hbf; the sleeping cabin attendant can be asked to wake you so that you're up in time
This excellent video recently added to YouTube, by channel Wingin' It by Paul Lucas showcases the experience of travelling in a sleeping cabin with solo occupancy.
You may recognise the photo Paul has used.
Tickets
Book early and save: Yes
This train is usually scheduled to depart from Amsterdam at 19:30, so target that time when looking up this journey.
Online bookings open:
6 months ahead of the travel date on OBB (OBB is the operator of this train
3 months ahead of the travel date on DB Bahn
The choice of accommodation - summary:
- Compartment Seats (Sitzwagen)
- Couchettes (Liegewagen); 4 berths AND 6 berths
- Standard sleeping cars (Schlafwagen) with 3 bed, 2 bed and 1 cabins
- Deluxe sleeping cars (Schlafwagen) with 3 bed, 2 bed and 1 cabins
Click the train details button for more info including the rail pass reservation fees:
The first price you will see on the OBB ticketing site will be for the compartment seats.
Travelling with a rail pass:
Rail pass users must reserve before boarding this train.
However, these rail pass reservations can NO longer be booked online the DB website, but you can now book rail pass reservations without paying booking fees on the OBB website (OBB operates these trains_
Though the process for doing so isn't particularly obvious, hence this step-by-step guide.
If you arrange the reservations at a Dutch station you will also have to pay a booking fee.
Route Information
Via stations: Frankfurt (Main) Hbf
Option 2: travelling by day via Frankfurt (Main)
Station Guides
Travel Time (approx)
11hr 7min - 12hr 53min
Frequency
Daily
Travel Info
2 x connections per day
Purchase Tickets
DB Bahn Guide
DB is the national railway operator in Germany, so its website can be used for booking journeys by German express trains; the ICE and IC trains and it doesn't charge booking fees.
It also sells tickets for journeys by direct trains on all international routes from Germany regardless of whether DB is operating the train service.
It also sells an extensive range of end-to-end journeys which involve making connections both within Germany and in neighboring countries, but journeys between Germany and Britain cannot be booked on DB.
A key feature of DB website worth keeping mind is that it offers 1st class ticket purchasers complimentary seat reservations on journeys both within and to/from Germany.
Seat reservations for daytime in both 1st and 2nd class can also be booked separately from tickets.
NS Intl Guide
NS is the Dutch national rail operator and it operates a bespoke website for the booking of international rail journeys from and to The Netherlands.
Therefore it offers tickets for journeys by:
- Thalys trains to Bruxelles and Paris
- IC trains to Berlin via Hannover and Bruxelles via Antwerpen
- Eurostar to London
- ICE trains to Basel and Frankfurt (Main) via Koln
- the Nightjet trains to Austria and Germany
NS International also sells tickets to a range of destinations in Austria, Czechia, Denmark, Italy and Switzerland, which involve a change of train in Germany, along with the destinations in France, which can be accessed by making a connection in Bruxelles.
Travel Information
Travelling across the breadth of Western Europe by train, during the day, is a totally feasible option for making a journey from Amsterdam to Wien/Vienna.
It showcases the best of European train travel, the trains have a wow factor and the highlights of the trip will include travelling on Germany's fastest high speed line; and views of the River Danube.
And if you take the second travel option of the day, you can almost ensure that it will be a stress-free journey too.
Change trains in: Frankfurt (Main)
The large discrepancy in journey time is due to the differences in the connecting time between trains at Frankfurt (Main).
Depart from Amsterdam on the train that is usually scheduled to leave at 08:08 and you will only have 13 mins in Frankfurt (Main) to connect into the train on to Wien/Vienna.
This connection isn't guaranteed, so attempting to make it is a gamble; though if you do take the chance, any tickets/reservations can be transferred free of charge to a later departure at the Reisezentrum travel desk in Frankfurt (Main) Hbf.
However, if you opt for the longer journey time and depart from Amsterdam on the train usually scheduled to depart at 10:38, you will have around 1hr 45mins to make the transfer between trains at Frankfurt (Main).
So making this connection on to Wien/Vienna is virtually guaranteed.
This journey is made up of 1 change.
Train 1
Between Amsterdam Centraal / Amsterdam CS and Frankfurt (Main) HbfYou will be travelling on one of these trains...
Journey Features
Good to Know
Final Destination: Frankfurt (Main) Hbf
All trains also call at: Koln/Cologne; Frankfurt Flughafen/Airport
There are few scenic highlights on this trip, though you'll be travelling beside a canal between Amsterdam and Utrecht; it can be seen on the left when travelling in this direction.
But what makes this journey fascinating is the multiple towns that the train will pass through, there is interest in the contrast between the Dutch and German cityscapes
What gives the journey the wow factor is when the train travels on Germany's fastest high speed line
between Seigburg/Bonn and Frankfurt Flughafen.
Though the train will only be travelling at more than 280 km/h for around 50 mins of this journey; between Amsterdam and Seigburg/Bonn the train won't be travelling exceptionally fast.
Train 2
Between Frankfurt (Main) Hbf and Wien Hbf/HauptbahnhofYou will be travelling on one of these trains...
Journey Features
Good to Know
Final Destination: Wien Flughafen (airport) or Wien Hbf
All trains also call at: Linz and St Polten and Wien-Meidling
Arriving in Wien/Viennna:
Check the location of your final destination in Wien/Vienna.
If you're heading to the south west corner of the city, or the area on the ring road around the Opera House; then it's likely that you'll have a faster and more convenient journey if you leave the train at Wien-Meidling station.
Journey description:
This is a journey of nine distinct phases: (the videos were filmed from a train travelling in the opposite direction)
-
Between Frankfurt (Main) and Aschaffenburg the railway passes through a string of commuter towns.
-
Then east of Aschaffenburg, is a scenic and slow part of the trip as the railway follows a series of valleys.
-
As the River Main comes into view on the right, the train will speed up before bridging the river and entering a tunnel which will link it to the high speed line.
-
The train will spend around 10-15 mins on the high speed line as it nears Wurzburg, just before the station look out on the right for a brief panorama over the river and city.
Because the train will spend such a small percentage of the journey on the high speed line, this hasn't been classed as a high speed trip -
On to Nurnberg the train will be on conventional railway tracks.
-
Between Nurnberg and Regensburg the train travels across a rolling landscape of hills.
-
Between Regensburg and Passau the railway line is beside the River Danube, which can be seen on the left.
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Tickets
resaEBook in advance and save: Yes
**Online bookings usually open:**6 months ahead of the travel date._
On DB Bahn look for the journeys that have '1' in the chg. column and 'ICE' in the Product column.
On NS International look for the journeys that have 'x1' and ICE > ICE below the journey details.
Though discounted tickets are seemingly rarely available when booking this end-2-end journey.
If you're able to book more than a couple of months ahead, it's likely that you will be able to make considerable savings if you book the Amsterdam to Frankfurt (Main) and Frankfurt (Main) to Wien/Vienna journeys separately.
If you do opt for separate bookings per train, definitely take the journey option which usually sets off from Amsterdam at 10:37; you'll need to maximise your chances of making the connection in Frankfurt.
Both journeys can be selected and paid for in one transaction on DB Bahn.
Reservations:
For ticket holders seat reservations are always optional on this route, but if you will be using a rail pass they are now mandatory when travelling between mid-June and mid-August - check the Train guide for the exact dates.
Regardless of whether you will be using tickets or rail passes they cost €4.90 when travelling in 2nd Class and €5.90 when travelling in 1st class.
Specific seats can be selected from seating plans - you don't have to accept the seat(s) that you will be automatically offered.
Opting to reserve highly recommended if you want to be sure of being able to remain in the same seat(s) all the way from Berlin to Bern.
Reservations are included within the cost of booking 1st class Flexpreis tickets and both 1st and 2nd class Flexpreis Plus tickets.
This second version of ShowMeTheJourney is exciting and new, so we are genuinely thrilled that you are here and reading this, but we also need your help.
We’re striving not to let anything get in the way of providing the most useful service possible, hence a facility has been set up with DonorBox which can be used to support the running costs and make improvements.
Instead of advertising or paywalls, your financial support will make a positive difference to delivering an enhanced service, as there’s a lot of ideas which we want to make happen.
So if you have found the info provided here to be useful, please consider saying thank you.
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